Hi All,
I’m so excited to finally be posting my first post to launch “The Love Games” and my chapter sneak peek.
I think I can safely say that everyone wishes for love in her or his life, but there are too few safe places where this vital human emotion can be openly discussed. So with Romeo and Juliet as "guardian angels," I'm hoping this blog can become an open forum where, in coming months -- through chats, challenges, giveaways and competitions -- we will explore the way romance informs, defines and illuminates our lives.
The excerpt you’ve just read on my website (www.robinmaxwell.com) from O, JULIET takes place on her bedroom balcony. But did you know that Shakespeare never once mentions a balcony in his famous play? All he says is that Juliet calls to Romeo “from above.” Elizabethan theater directors putting on early productions were the ones who conceived of the balcony, but this architectural feature has, over the centuries, become synonymous with the most romantic scene in literary history.
My own Romeo, Max Thomas, proposed marriage to me on bended knee amidst piles of packing boxes in the L.A. apartment we had moved into the day before. So despite its less-than-exotic or candlelit location, I would place that on my short list of romantic settings and utterances.
What would you count as yours? A place – indoors or out – where “love happened.” And what are the sweetest sentiments ever spoken to you in that place? Please share them with me and everyone visiting this blog...which is dedicated 100% to my favorite emotion.
Lots of love,
The Round Table ladies are so excited! Here is a posting on our official website:
ReplyDeletehttp://historicalfictionroundtable.com/
I was also proposed to in a newly rented apartment without much romance. Sigh... at least I can read about it!
First off, I can't wait to read this book!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband totally surprised me when he proposed to me too. He told me we were going to Dallas to visit his family. So at seven in the morning, standing in line to board our flight I noticed that the sign didn't say "Dallas" but "Islip". I wondered, "Where in Texas is Islip?" My husband just laughed and laughed and asked me to think on it. I finally figured out we were heading to NYC for a vacation. I was so excited since I had always wanted to go. And then we were separated during our five hour flight. He was in the front of the plane and I was in back, pouring over the travel guide he gave me. A few nights into our trip, he took me to dinner in Brooklyn, a gorgeous little place where we sat outside in the back under twinkling lights. Afterward, we went for a walk and having no clue where I was, I was shocked when the trees opened up and we were on the Brooklyn promenade w/ the city spread out before us. We sat on a bench to look at the view and that's when he got down on his knee and proposed. He was shaking so bad because of nerves he almost put the ring on the wrong finger while I just laughed and cried.
I thought it was the most romantic moment ever.
I love your new blog and can't wait for more posts. Thanks!
...hmmm...can't really remember if I was even proposed to...oh well, the marriage is very good though. And- I do recall us being both 17 or so at a Sugar Shack and he was so sweet to take off his leather jacket and let me use it to sit on a cold winter bench...I think I fell in love with him right there and then:)
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have a blended family, meaning his, hers and ours. Well after our first 'ours' was born out of wedlock, (as she always reminds me) all hubby said was, "Well, I think we should get married now". So 27 years later.... still happily married...
ReplyDeleteThe most romantic thing ever said to me was, "I want to be with you even when you're old or sick."
ReplyDeleteI entered every book blogger giveaway I could find for Signora DaVinci and didn't win.
I am an independent book reviewer who LOVES historical fiction, if you're able to send out an ARC.
e_bogardus AT hotmal DOT com
Well, I'm not married (hopefully sometime soon) but my most romantic experience was when my current boyfriend took me up to the top of this small mountain in his hometown where there is this great view of the sunset. We watched the sunset and that was the first time he told me he loved me. It was beautiful. Loved the book!
ReplyDeleteI love everybody's stories! From box-strewn apartments, to a street in Brooklyn and a bench at Sugar Shack to a mountaintop at sunset. From proposals of marriage to promises of undying love. I want more!
ReplyDeleteI love your story about you and Max surrounded by boxes, Robin! Sometimes it's the simplest settings that make the moment itself have the greatest impact.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, one of my most romantic moments happened during the summer Ron and I first started dating, when I was supposed to be spending the end of the summer in Barcelona. I was leaving for five weeks, and we had JUST started dating. When it came time for me to go, I wasn't at first sure if the timing of my trip would cut our courtship short. We ended up staying awake all night talking about the most amazing things and watching the stars the night before I left, catching the sun coming up the next morning, before he took me to the airport and told me he'd be waiting for me when I got back :). Two $1,000+ phone bills later, when I came home from Spain we commenced our 5 year relationship that is still going strong! We still talk about the impact that night had on forming the strength of our relationship right from the very start.
I'm remembering another romantic moment. This one was actually a whole weekend spent at Joshua Tree National Park two months after Max and I started dating. I'd been a really sedentary person, living much of the time in my mind, but he kept dragging me into the great outdoors on really physical adventures. In JT it was hiking out into the desert and climbing 500 foot high boulder piles. He was a shocking show-off, and enjoyed doing handstands about six inches away from the edge of the rock cliff which had the effect of scaring me half to death, but exciting the hell out of me. It was there in the park at "golden hour" with the sun gleaming off the spiny Joshua trees, that we committed to our relationship to each other, which was scary as we'd both been in many other really bad ones. Now, 28 years later, we live not far from JT and we have our very own rock pile. You'll be able to see it in my author video.
ReplyDeleteAwhh Robin such a sweet story, I have seen Joshua trees and there is an effect they have.
ReplyDeleteMy most romantic moment was the proposal. We had been together for quite some years when I took a visit to check in on my sick grandfather and to make a confession that I was having a child with a man I had lived with for over five years and was still not married to. My grandfather was the traditional type and I just could not live with myself for not telling him. I told him and confessed the truth that I loved him, wanted to marry him, but I wanted him to do it on his own free will. I underestimated my grandfathers sensitivity and we had met a true understanding about my future.
I returned home late the night before valentines day exhausted from my trip. When I awoke the next morning my boyfriend was on the edge of the bed waking me up dangling a pink heart shaped necklace for valentines day. I was elated to say the least. Later that evening we had a home cooked meal, after dinner he said to me "your other present is in the car" I gave him the look of what are you talking about. When I made my way to the car in the front seat was a bottle of champagne and a box of strawberries. I snatched them up and ran back inside when I opened the door I was shocked to see him on one knee with a real ring in a box. I said shocked "what are you doing"? I could not believe him I never saw it coming.
There were a few interesting facts about the story one: my mother kept a real secret from me for a 14 hour car drive each way to and from California. Two: He asked my father before I left for permission to ask me. Three: My mother told my grandfather and he kept it from me too. Fourth and best of all the day he proposed to me was my grandparents 53 wedding anniversary, and he told my mother "give her our blessing".
Love is Love and it always has a way of finding a way to blossom even in the desert.
My sweetie and I just went and got married spur of the moment sort of. He gave me an engagement ring 4 years later. I kind of knew I was getting one, but it was supposed to be a surprise.
ReplyDeleteSo I just got out of the shower, and I'm getting dressed, and sweetie comes into our bedroom and he put something on the dresser. I wasn't paying attention, and I'm asking him, what we were going to do that day. And he is just looking at me and tapping his leg, and his face is all weird, and his eyes are tearing up. I look at him, and I say "Oh my god! what's wrong?" And he says "nothing just look, right there", and he points at the box. It's closed and he says "I'm too nervous I can't hold it or open it."
Well I lost it and was so excited and finally opened the box like 5 minutes later or so. It was very sweet.
Isn't it surprising, the depth of emotion that resides in our men? We forget sometimes that while they are tough on the outside, they are delicate flowers on the inside. When we catch that rare glimpse, we never forget it. I'm so loving hearing everybody's stories! Please encourage your friends and readers to share theirs.
ReplyDeleteOkay, well I know I already shared a story, but I have a new one to add that just happened this morning!! I was telling Lizzy about it and she said, "you need to go post that to Robin's site!" so here I am.
ReplyDeleteToday is a big birthday for me, and Ron wanted to make it special. So I woke up this morning to Ron singing Happy Birthday (if you knew Ron, you would understand why this is a HUGE deal--he can't sing for the life of him) with my favorite cake from this amazing bakery called Two Little Red Hens, Brooklyn Blackout (chocolate cake, chocolate icing, chocolate pudding between each layer!). But the best part was what was glistening between the candles, sitting IN the cake. A gorgeous, sapphire (my favorite stone) ring with little diamonds running all around it. No, it's not THAT kind of ring, but an absolutely beautiful momento of our five years together. I am still beside myself with shock. He must have saved for months to buy it for me. The setup was what really got me, though, and speaking of the depth of emotion that resides in our men, I just loved his idea of nestling it inside my favorite cake, surrounded by candles, which really made the ring glitter! He's just run out right now to go buy us some lunch but I just had to share that little story with you Robin! I'm still speechless!
For my husband and I, it all happened at a Starbucks! We met online but had our first "in person" meeting at a Starbucks in town. To this day, we got here on the anniversary of the day we met just to sit at that same table and have a cup of coffee and think about that day. We take pictures of ourselves outside the Starbucks every year even though people look at us like we're complete dorks. (We are. But I don't care!)
ReplyDeleteMy husband asked me on our first date when we were both sitting round the kitchen table in our hall of residence at university. I was complaining about the lack of romance in my life and suddenly this guy I hardly knew announced that he would take me out and show me romance. A few days later, his friend showed up at my door wearing a tux and telling me that he was the chauffeur for our date. He then took us to the local pizza restaurant (we were students!) and the rest is history. That was 16 years ago and we've been married 14 years.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. The last three stories about love were tied by a single element...food. We had a ring from a lover buried in a blackout cake, and romantic meetings over coffee and pizza. I don't know about you, but food and love have always been linked in MY mind.
ReplyDeleteMy love story started with chaos because from a country where your race and religion are foremost in everyone's minds we faced a lot of opposition in getting married. My husband and I are from two different races and two different religions. We are now 28 years married with 3 grown up children!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Mystica, I don't suppose you'd want to share any more of your love story. With your two different races and two different religions, it's very reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteThe most romantic moments for me have always been in nature . . . a picnic by the stream, a kiss in the rain, looking up at the dancing aspens rustling their golden autumn leaves. . .
ReplyDeleteMost romantic was a surprise bar-b-que on the beach-my husband had me all dressed up-I had no idea where I was or what we were doing. The beach is my favorite place. THis was for my b'day.
ReplyDeletechocolate and croissants at yahoo dot com
The most romantic moment for me was when I was dating my soon to be husband and we went on a date to Union Station. He surprised me with a carriage ride and while we were enjoying the sights and sounds of the city, he presented me with a promise ring and a poem that he wrote to me. It was such a incrediable momemt. I knew that is was the one. We dated for four years after that and got married. We have been married for 17 years and counting. I hope I get to win this book and necklace since I don't ever win anything. The book looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteI am not married but I have been a few times,so, from my experience, I would have to say total honesty.
ReplyDeletelkish77123 at gmail dot com
A few years ago there was an announcement in the local paper of a couple engaged to be married. The bride, 94, was marrying a younger man, 92. They did not show a picture of the future groom, but a photo of the bride, whose name was Alice, was so radiant and beautiful that I cut it out and put it in my everything-book.
ReplyDeleteThe happiness of love that shone on Alice's face is my inspiration for dreaming that one day I will be married in the normal fashion, not running away to Las Vegas, but with a real wedding. I am not in my nineties nor am I in my forties, but somewhere in between. I am very slowly falling in love with a beloved friend, the first whose love does not frighten me with possession or abandonment. What a delicious long love we have, and what a new desire for me, to want to be truly married to one man ... perhaps this one.
I love all the stories and comments here. Robin, your "sneak peak" is awesome, igniting feelings of romance that have always been and always will be the trailing red velvet in all my loving.
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